TV
Soul Deep: The Story of Black Popular Music
Soul music has conquered the world in the last 50 years - growing from the raw, electric rhythms of the black underclass, it is now a billion dollar industry with R&B and hip hop dominating the world's charts.
It's been the soundtrack to some of the most extraordinary social, political and cultural shifts.
Together with the civil rights movement, it has challenged white hegemony, helped break down segregation and encouraged the fight for racial equality.
This new six-part series, made by the BBC team who produced the critically-acclaimed Lost Highway, Walk On By and Dancing In The Street series, charts the evolution of soul music - with a fascinating combination of rare archive footage and over 100 contemporary interviews.
The movers and shakers from the world of soul – such as James Brown, Mary J Blige, Beyoncé and Martha Reeves, - plus some often overlooked talent, track the music that shaped our lives.
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Death in the Bunker: The True Story of Hitler's Downfall
Adolf Hitler spent the last ten days of his life in a bunker underneath the Chancellery of the Reich. Unwilling to face the consequences of defeat, the dictator ended his own life on April 30, 1945 in this fortified underground complex. Featuring exclusive interviews with the last survivor’s of Hitler’s inner circle and extensive archival footage, Death in the Bunker is an illuminating look at the Führer’s final decisions in preparation for his suicide.
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Arnhem - A Bridge Too Far - The True Story
September 1944. The Battle of Arnhem was one of the most audacious but ultimately controversial battles of the Second World War. Airborne drops in Holland were to secure important bridges on the route to be taken by ground forces racing to gain a foothold across the Rhine. Had it succeeded it might have ended the war by Christmas 1944.
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Behind the Ears: The True Story of Roger Rabbit
This documentary is featured on the 2-disc Vista Series DVD for Who Framed Roger Rabbit, released in 2003
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If I Should Fall from Grace: The Shane MacGowan Story
Music videos and archived footage supplement recent interviews in this documentary of ex-Pogues singer Shane MacGowan. We follow his life from the early days in Ireland and England, through his formation of - and later dismissal from - The Pogues, to his new band The Popes. Shane's family, friends, and former bandmates comment on the music, the rumors, and the alcohol.
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Free Will And Testament: The Robert Wyatt Story
Robert Wyatt is one of the best-kept secrets of contemporary British music. Drummer and vocalist in Soft Machine which played with Hendrix and Pink Floyd in their heyday, he split from the group in the late 1960s and started recording solo albums. A fall from a window left Wyatt confined to a wheelchair, but he continued recording, even in hospital. His most well-known song is probably Shipbuilding, a protest against the Falklands war written for him by Elvis Costello, while his 1997 album Schleep won acclaim as one of the best albums of the past 10 years. In addition to performance footage of the famously retiring musician, the documentary contains interviews with John Peel, Brian Eno, Annie Whitehead, Alfie and Robert Wyatt himself.
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It Conquered Hollywood! The Story of American International Pictures
A 60-minute salute to American International Pictures. Entertainment lawyer Samuel Z. Arkoff founded AIP (then called American Releasing Corporation) on a $3000 loan in 1954 with his partner, James H. Nicholson, a former West Coast exhibitor and distributor. The company made its mark by targeting teenagers with quickly produced films that exploited subjects mainstream films were reluctant to tackle.
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Captured on Film: The True Story of Marion Davies
Blonde, beautiful and talented, Marion Davies was the first and funniest screwball comedienne. As star of two of the best comedies ever made, Show People and The Patsy, she combined zany slapstick and exuberant mimicry. Glamorous, witty and kind, both on screen and off, Davies was also famous for her 35-year-long love affair with William Randolph Hearst.
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For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story
In the early 1970s, Cuban trumpeter Arturo Sandoval (Andy Garcia) is torn between his own musical dreams and the dreams of his wife, Marianela (Mía Maestro), a fervent supporter of the ideals of the Castro revolution. Also starring Charles S. Dutton as Dizzy Gillespie and José Zúñiga as Paquito D'Rivera, this gripping jazz biopic is at once a detailed portrait of a musician and a stinging critique
